August 20, 2023
It was one year ago that we packed up and moved out of our house to live in a RV. It has been an amazing year and we have had so many adventures and are looking forward to so many more. It is funny how our RV has become our home sweet home and how much we missed it when we had to be out of it this week for repairs. Not sure we ever want to fully go back to sticks and bricks living because our RV is the place we love to be.
8/14- We got up early this morning and packed the last of the stuff we would need this week into the Jeep and drove the RV over to Custom Paint and Auto Body to get repaired. Then it was over to drop all our stuff off at our BnB. The BnB we are staying in only has a mini-fridge so we have all the freezer stuff in an ice chest packed with ice and hope it will stay cold enough to keep everything good for the week.
Today was our day to really explore the town and get signed up for all the things we are hoping to get done. We stopped off at the Allegro Club and signed up to be members. We are looking forward to all the benefits that come with membership. https://tiffinmotorhomes.com/allegro-club
Then it was over to the Tiffin Service Center to get signed up to be in line for service there. Then we headed over to The Bunkhouse to check out their selections of Recliners as we are not big fans of our couch. We found one that we liked so we set up a day to get the old one removed and the new one installed.
Then we went to the Tiffin store downtown and hung out there a while. We had to stop and get a Georgia Peach Milkshake that had been recommended by one of the guards at the Tiffin factory. We had stopped by there to find out about a tour which we will be taking tomorrow and he told us his favorite places to eat in town. The Georgia Peach Milkshake at Red Bay SnoBiz and is a combination of Peach and Strawberry and was so good.
As we ran around today we would past by the body shop and could see the work they were doing on our RV. Also we could see all the other endcaps that had been replaced laying in back of the shop. I guess we can’t feel to bad that we messed ours up after seeing so many others had too.
8/15- This morning we got to tour the Tiffin Factory. https://tiffinmotorhomes.com/factory-tours The tours usually last about an hour but just as we got ready to go in Bob Tiffin, the founder of Tiffin Motorhomes, came out of his office and greeted our group. He spent the next 45 minutes visiting with everyone then took pictures with us all. The tour was amazing! The only sad thing is you cannot take pictures in the factory so we have no pictures to share. But we were able to see how a Tiffin motorhome is built, from making the cabinets to the final assembly. It was quite a bit of walking but well worth the time.
This afternoon we went downtown to the little Red Bay Museum to learn a little more about the town. https://www.redbaymuseum.org/ We enjoyed see the history of the place and how long the Tiffin family has been in this area. I had to buy one of their dirt shirts dyed with Alabama red clay.
Part of the top floor is dedicated to Tammy Wynette who claimed Red Bay as her home town. She was born in Tremont, Mississippi but lived most of her life with her maternal grandparents in Red Bay. She had wonderful memories of the town and even came back here to perform. While we were at the museum our granddaughter called to share that she got a phone watch which has our number programed in it so she can call us whenever she wants. It was fun to talk with her.
This evening we went out to dinner at Halligan’s pizza which has really good pizza. We are glad we have found some good places to eat here including Jack’s and Cardinal’s Drive-in. Cardinal’s has strawberry and pineapple daiquiri both alcohol free since Red Bay is in a dry county and no alcohol is sold here. We are also alcohol free so we enjoyed our booze free drinks.
8/16- Today we started to explore the various areas around Red Bay. Nothing is very close so we figure we will put quite a bit of miles on the Jeep this week, but we would rather be out seeing and doing than sitting and waiting. Today we drove about an hour to the Shiloh National Battleground in Tennessee. We spent our time touring the National Cemetery and then driving around to see the various monuments.
The battle at Shiloh took place near the Shiloh Chapel. It only lasted a couple days in April of 1862 but the battle had great significant for both the Union and Confederate Armies. Here troops lead by General Grant met troops lead by General Beauregard and General Johnston. After the Confederates defeat at Shiloh General Grant’s troops were able to finally push into Mississippi.
The Union troops arrived at Pittsburg Landing with the arrival of gunboats.
We visited the cemetery were not only are Civil War soldiers are buried but also soldiers from wars that were to follow. As the battle began it appeared that the Confederate Troops might prevail but a slaughter of both side began. There where over 23,000 casualties with General Johnston being one of them.
In the midst of our tour we got a call from our youngest daughter that she had been rear ended back in Texas so we had to pull over for a while as Frank had to make calls and deal with the insurance companies. Luckily it appears the accident was not serious and although she and her passenger are a little sore, they weren’t badly hurt.
8/17- Before heading out this morning we stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast and Frank found out, much to his delight, that McDonald’s in the South have biscuits and gravy. So he enjoyed some for breakfast before we headed off to do some hiking.
We headed toward Phil Campbell, Alabama. https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/alabama/phil-campbell-al/ It is the only town in America that has the full name of a person. Phil Campbell worked for the railroad as a supervisor. He was told if he added a stop along the route he could name it whatever he wanted. He choose to name the site after himself although he never lived there.
.Just outside of Phil Campbell, Alabama is Dismal’s Canyon. https://www.dismalscanyon.com/ The canyon floor follows a stream through boulders, past waterfalls, with a labyrinth of caverns, grottos and small slot canyons formed by massive boulders broken off the towering bluffs. It is not an easy trail and we were not able to hike it all as it was a little too much for our bodies with my bad hip and Frank’s back, but we did get to do a smaller loop around the park and enjoyed the amazing scenery there.
Then it was off to Tupelo, Mississippi. Red Bay, Alabama is just miles from the Mississippi border so heading to Mississippi doesn’t take long but the trip to Tupelo did take us about an hour each way. My older sister was a big fan of Elvis Presley and although I enjoyed his music I wouldn’t call myself a devoted fan but I wanted to visit Elvis’ birthplace in honor of my sister. https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/12430
You could see that many people were very devoted to Elvis, wearing clothing with his name on it. We enjoyed seeing the little two room shack that was his home as a young boy and the family church he attended. The guide at the house pointed us toward a place to have lunch.
Johnnie’s Drive-in has been around since the 1940’s and even has a booth that Elvis ate in. Groups of people would come in to get their picture taken in Elvis’ booth. Frank enjoyed his pulled pork sandwich and the waitress talked me into posing for a picture in Elvis’ booth. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017885683/
Before heading back to Red Bay we hopped on The Natchez Trace Parkway and drove down to the visitor’s center. https://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm We watched a movie on the Trace and toured the center. We have decided that one of our future trips will have to be driving the length of The Natchez Trace Parkway.
8/18- Well today was another day of moving but it was back into our RV so we were so happy to be doing that. They have not quite finished with our body work but they have the new cap on and painted. They will finish up with the trim on Monday. Until then we will be able to stay in our RV in their little campground next to the Body shop.
We spent the morning repacking up our stuff and getting it ready to move and just as they were closing up shop for the day we moved everything back inside. Here in Red Bay most of the shops that do work on RV’s, including the factory, are open from 5 am to 2 pm so they don’t have to work long in the heat and humidity of the day. Once we got inside the RV it was time to put everything away and clean up a bit of the dust that had accumulated while the RV was being worked on. We are all happy to be back in our home, including Teddi.
8/19- The spot we are staying at the Body Shop is right on the Main Street of Red Bay and we had no idea how many loud trucks and motorcycles there are in this town. We were both up late last night listening to the noise so we slept in half the day and got a late start on exploring. Since the RV has no tail lights, back-up camera or rear license plate it will stay put until after Monday when we will be moving back to Red Bay Acres until we have to move it somewhere else to get work done.
So early afternoon we headed off to do some more exploring. Just about a half hour or so outside of Red Bay is the Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Cemetery. https://www.coondogcemetery.com/ In the 1930’s the first Coon dog was buried there and the cemetery began for Champion Coon Dogs. In honor of our Harley Blue, one of the best Coon dogs ever, even though he wasn’t a champion, we went out to visit. We found we weren’t the only ones who loved Coon Dogs. They have a guest book that they want visitors to sign and we were the 11th group to visit the cemetery that day. Walking around the graveyard had us remembering what a great dog Harley was and how much we still miss him.
Then we headed to Wichahpi Commemorative Stone Wall which was built over 30 years by Tom Hendrix to honor his great grandmother Te-lah-nay, a Native American. Te-lah-nay was sent to Indian Territory of Oklahoma where she felt the rivers did not sing, so she spent five years walking back to Alabama and the Tennessee River. Unfortunately we had such a late start we arrived there one minute after closing and missed getting to visit it but we will be back tomorrow to try again.
We had crossed the Tennessee River to get to wall and so we crossed back over and stopped at Colbert’s Ferry where George Colbert operated his ferry from 1800 to 1819 He charged Andrew Jackson $75,000 to transport him and his Army troops across the river. https://www.natcheztracetravel.com/natchez-trace-alabama/florence-tennessee-river/124-colbert-ferry.html
It was starting to get late so we headed to Rattlesnake Saloon for dinner. They have a taxi (a pick-up truck with seats in the back) transport you down to the cave where they serve dinner and had a band playing. https://www.rattlesnakesaloon.net/s
8/20- After listening to church this morning we headed back to visit Wichahpi Commemorative Stone Wall just outside of Florence, Alabama. https://www.natcheztracetravel.com/natchez-trace-alabama/florence-tennessee-river/456-wichahpi-stone-wall.html There we were able to hear the story of Te-lah-nay from her great-great grandson. Then we set off to follow the two paths through the stone walls. The first path represented Te-lah-nay’s journey to Oklahoma and the second her journey back.
As we traveled the first path I kept discovering so many surprises in the shapes and types of different rocks. As you reach the end of the first path you can feel the sadness of journeying so far from home.
The second path has a section of rocks that wear faces along with items of remembrance people have left behind. There are small notes placed in the crevices of the rocks. As you reach the end of this path you can feel the joy Te-lah-nay must have felt as she returned to her singing river.
Then it was off to Florence, Alabama where we saw the only Frank Lloyd Weber house built in the state. https://www.wrightinalabama.com/banner It was built in the 1930’s for the Rosenbaum’s with 1,540 square feet. Later in 1948 as the family had grown to include four boys Frank Lloyd Webster designed an addition of 1,084 square feet.
It was interesting to walk through and see the clean lines of the house both inside and out before heading back to prepare for another day.
There are so many other things to see in Florence such as Muscle Shoals, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and Helen Keller’s home that we will have to go back before we leave Red Bay, Alabama
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